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Post by Wilhelm on Jul 11, 2016 23:49:53 GMT -6
I couldn't sleep last night, so I made this before bed. It's a prototype, and a bit crude thanks to medical issues involving my hands. Power banks, glued together and held in a modified card case with a belt loop. Simple, but effective. 'Super-effective' some might say... NYEH heh heh. These batteries are $5 at Five Below, and you can fit 6-7 of them in a case. The white ones are almost always gone, so assume you'll be buying the smaller ones (like the grey ones in the photos). The Pokemon TCG card cases are $5 on Amazon. It'll total you around $40, but it's fairly cheap considering you get about 6-10 (minimum) full charges out of it. IMPORTANT Advice - Never charge batteries that are right next to each other. You can charge every other battery at one time, then the ones you missed. This is for safety as they do heat up as they charge. And never open the batteries to modify them. This is for YOUR safety.
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Post by Wilhelm on Jul 4, 2016 22:20:47 GMT -6
My opinion - Meh? I mean... It's made of water and her breasts remind me of water balloons, so... It makes sense in a way? But I'll forward to my girlfriend on this one.
Girlfriend's opinion - "I'm a graduate of Chatham University, well-schooled in women's history, feminist studies, and have a Bachelors in Art Management. She's ever-pregnant with sea-dwelling spawn, made of seawater, and the breasts have no nipples. I'm not bothered and there's not really any sexual objectification going on here that I can tell. I wish he'd quit replaying the demo though."
Ooookay. More than I expected, but I'll go with it.
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Post by Wilhelm on Jun 22, 2016 15:09:13 GMT -6
Okay, I'm going to call it: I actually LIKE this game.
Pros: I like that you can take the game at your own pace. I enjoyed the lighthearted nature of the characters. The music was great. It reminded me of Astro Boy a lot - and that technically WAS the inspiration for MegaMan. People tend to forget that, so I think it's nice to see a return to the roots of the spirit of the style.
Cons: I think it would have done better as a sprite-based game like Azure Striker Gunvolt. I do NOT like the zoomed-out-edness of the game play. It's very much not kind to a gamer in their livingroom. Stages seemed remarkably short.
I'm ignoring the fiasco with the Kickstarter/Hype Train - I backed it, but it really didn't bother me. To me I just felt I'd have it when I had it. Media exposure, marketing failure, internal issues, etc? When you consciously make effort to ignore it all and play the game as-is, it's fun. You can't approach this game with a lot of expectation outside of "Oh, this looks like a Megaman X game". I mean you can, but I guess I'm more patient than most.
7/10 Rockbuster Blasts.
[EDIT] After some reflection...
One of the joys of being a developer -should- be developing a game at your own, but reasonable, pace. It's regrettable what happened with Mighty No. 9's Kickstarter, internal specifics, and how fans were repeatedly geared up just to be let down. Sometimes it's difficult to give reasonable time frames for a game with multiple ports for different consoles when you don't have that AAA backing and the funds to hire more team members when necessary. Fresh eyes always help the process, even if sometime irritating. Moreso, different release dates would have been frustrating to some, but overall really alleviated a lot of grief on the fans' end of things.
I think a lot of issues were avoidable in the end. A slow trickle of information for the fans, better funding management, specific PC and console release dates (funding from one release helping the development and release for the next platform). They seem like minor, and even strange things to mention - but I honestly think we'd have had this game a lot sooner and had a happier team in the end. "At least it's something" is a very HUMAN thing to say, especially when you're just... burnt out. Frustrated. So I can see why it was interpreted as being said by Inafune.
I'm not holding it against Inafune. I expect he'll learn from this in the future and that if there's a MN9 II, it'll be superior - from the interaction with gamers to the final product.
But again, that's just my opinion.
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Post by Wilhelm on Jun 18, 2016 1:27:01 GMT -6
I have to go with the full body. I know the scarf seems... nice? But there's just something slightly unnerving and even supernatural about that full-body aura. I loved it, and I feel like it's become a staple of Castlevania games. OR, what would be interesting is an aura that gradually becomes visible as she gains more power. From almost nil and the scarf at Lv. 1 to an Alucard-like aura at max level. This would likely satisfy BOTH preferences.
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Post by Wilhelm on Jun 18, 2016 1:20:50 GMT -6
While I'm not legally blind (yet), I do have incredibly bad vision. The text sizes of SOTN's menu's I was personally able to see reasonably on a 19" CRT TV at a distance of 4'. But my peripheral vision is a bit off, so when text for items and enemies appeared to the bottom left I sometimes didn't look until it was already on the verge of disappearing. I would suggest maybe a two or three second extension in that regard. It may seem like an odd thing, but in the end it'd likely be useful to the visually impaired and everyone else. Or perhaps an option to customize that delay? That could be perfect.
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Post by Wilhelm on Jun 17, 2016 0:10:56 GMT -6
I guess my day starts with a story. I was raised in Appalachia. I didn't have much, my parents were divorced and kinda abusive. I say 'kinda', because they didn't know how to raise a kid. I was No. 1 of what became 7. I was mocked in school a lot for what later would be diagnosed as Type 2 Albinism along with Aspergers and Syncope. And I was a nerd... SOTN was literally the only game I owned for a year, so I've got the whole thing burned into my head now. Built computers out of trashed parts from the high school I went to. Life was hard, and after I finally graduated and escaped my family... I got involved in something and became a scapegoat. Lost a year of my life, mentally regressed, etc. Trauma. Layers, like an onion. Got married, got divorced. Dated, got dumped. Repeatedly. Could never get the hang of 'socialization', or even 'romance'. Found out I had Fibromyalgia. Lost my job, and after a couple of dating/living together situations ended up homeless. Got nerve damage during several snow storms from frost bite. I was in NY, because that's where you go when you want to try hard to make it big. Made sense at the time. But this isn't a sob story. A lady from PA, retired librarian, took me in. Gave me the house her step-daughter pretty much abandoned. Got on medications and started to slowly recover. Rebuilt the inside over a period of five years, because it was a mess. Started working on an associates degree. It was slow... I broke my arms falling down the steps (which took months to heal), and then summers I worked under the table odd-jobs on "good days" so I'd have at least -some- necessities. And then there was physical therapy. doctors, etc. Anyway, it finally paid off. And today (or yesterday) I got this in the mail... I'm still pushing to raise money for a BS, then actually go to a real campus and get a Juris Doctorate. With my GPA and sheer will... won't be hard if I can find a way to pay, a cosigner, or whatever. I hope to go to University of Pittsburgh School of Law, then eventually become a lawyer. Mostly because it's all brain work, arguing points, researching similar cases, etc; and I'm good at that. So yeah... Today was the first step in a success story. Idiot kid from middle of nowhere starting to make something of himself. Say what you want, but I'm proud of myself today.
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Post by Wilhelm on Jun 16, 2016 23:34:06 GMT -6
As soon as I can get a ride into town (I live in a rural area, so...) I'll follow suite. As I said on Dischord, I still think you should get Red Cross and Iga in on this and make it a thing. Thousands of Castlevania fans donating blood at once? Think of all the lives we'd save... This is awesome!
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Post by Wilhelm on Jun 15, 2016 18:34:33 GMT -6
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Post by Wilhelm on Oct 13, 2015 0:24:04 GMT -6
This past Friday I actually played through Faxanadu again. Mainly because my friend's Plex server was taken down indefinitely by the owner, leaving my broke self without entertainment.
Looking back, without the nostalgia, pure gameplay, 28 years later - It was too short. After having really developed my eye-hand coordination over the years, mastering the horrendous jump-arcs of olden' times, overall the game is easy. Games in that era relied on those jump arcs to increase the difficulty. It also had a major reliance on backtracking in order to make the game seem three times longer than it is. I was thinking back before, when I suggested this game, and I remembered this long epic quest. I remembered slaying dragon men with huge "Gunhead"-like heads and zombies that seemed to scratch their butts as they walked (no, really - play the game and watch them). Nope. Another reason I'm going to have to be critical is the bad "level management" of the game. Before, you wanted to keep your EXP low and your GP high, this due to the necessary Wingboots that actually give less time as you level-up. But leveling up is going to happen if you are trying to get GP, which you actually need a lot of if you want to keep your equipment strong and, more importantly, afford the multitude of keys you'll need. These can all be racked up to 'game length' and 'mechanics', though. For a game of that era, it may have had very little replay value (I beat it in about two hours), but what it did have was inspiration.
I say this because it actually had great stage design. It wasn't too difficult, but it wasn't too easy either. All in all it was very fluid, and the tilework was great. I think it had a lot to do with the layers. At the time, this was a pretty new concept, and the only popular game from that period -that comes to mind immediately- that used it was Super Mario Bros. 3. I'm sure others did, I just can't seem to think of them. Enemies could seemingly hide, and in the mist stage of the game it served as a great obstacle. Enemy design was even great. It may not have had the diversity of Persona or Castlevania when it comes to creatures of lore, BUT what was there... it fit. Especially with a lot of Giger and Lovecraft elements in the mist. I have a major love-hate relationship with that stage, as you can probably tell. The music was also well composed for an NES game, it all being complementary to the stages. Especially once you exit the elf town and begin your descent up the world tree. That track is very memorable, and while repetitive it wasn't tiring.
Anyway, that's a brief retrospect-review. It may not have much replay value outside of the second playthrough, but I think you can definitely see the influence it may have had on future games if you pay attention.
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Post by Wilhelm on Oct 10, 2015 21:38:57 GMT -6
Today was just weird.
I run an Air BnB in my spare bedroom. It's a good way to make money if you're a college student and have a spare room. I make like maybe $40/night off it, so it adds up to survival money, y'know?
Anyway, this morning I get a message saying the guy wants to stay overnight. Sunday night someone else is staying, but I figured if I went to the laundromat now and washed everything and did the same tomorrow it'd all be fine. I wash and dry everything. Afterwards, not only are the towels all burnt, so is the comforter... and a washcloth is missing. Keep in mind I dried the clothes on low heat for 30min. So I run home, frantic. I tried to find more sheets that matched, as everything good I owned went into that bedroom and was now in this bag of laundry, charred. Found some mismatched sheets and pillowcases, took a comforter from my bed, and ran off. Got everything washed, used a different drier. Everything turned out fine.
Later, the guy shows up. His room is ready. ...but he asks for ANOTHER comforter as well. So I go to my bedroom, grab my last one, and give it to him. I was worried it may smell like cigarettes because I recently quit smoking, but I hadn't used it so it's whatever.
After all this running back and forth (on foot mind you) my girlfriend comes over. I only see her for one day a week, as she has a son and a job. We go grab groceries and my landlady is there. She buys me a new comforter, a few sets of sheets, and towels for the spare room.
I dunno'. I guess it's one of those things where if you try hard enough to do things, karma rewards you? It was weird and most of the day was exhausting, but the end itself was fascinating.
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Post by Wilhelm on Sept 29, 2015 23:59:33 GMT -6
Today was really bad for me. My disability appeal was denied because "going to college tells us that you think you are able to work" when I had gone to college because I don't have the skills to do the job I'm ABLE to do! I wanted to be a lawyer, as for the most part I could move around and make my own schedule, do the work when I'm able... Now I have to either appeal AGAIN or kiss my education goodbye. It was hard enough getting the years I got in, y'know? I exhausted all my grants and FAFSA, held a 3.7 GPA, and I'm still not "eligible" beyond that for other scholarships or grants. Bills are coming in... I have to have at least $125/mo to pay off the credit cards I use to get through college. I'm having trouble even getting that. My project, www.edushelter.info, is falling apart because no one has donated. It was a project I started to help disabled homeless that were in my situation - you can't get a job you're able to hold if you don't go to college, but you can't go to school if you don't have a place to stay, and you can't have a place to stay if you don't - See where I'm going? It's a vicious circle, and a majority of shelters, if not all, don't help with that. So I wanted to help. You see those pallet houses on Facebook n' stuff,so I'm sure you know what I mean when I say I was given blueprints for them. I was going to buy an empty lot in the city and build them on the property on my 'good days' when I'm able or have help, then give them somewhere to get a foothold on their lives. I printed flyers and put them all over the county. Nothing. It's very disheartening. So many businesses in Pittsburgh, so many people. It makes me sad and almost just want to give up on it. I wish I could post something happier. However... I needed to vent, I suppose? There's a lot more, much of it personal, but I think this is enough and don't want to sound overly whiny. I'll just say it's been a bad month.
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Post by Wilhelm on Sept 29, 2015 5:40:49 GMT -6
One of my favorite retro games on the NES was Faxanadu. Most people don't even remember it, but realistically it was fairly important as a Metroivania game that had aspects of SOTN (leveling, armor, weapons, etc), like an unrefined precursor.
My biggest beef was the "mantra" codes that it had in place instead of saving. It was difficult, having similar issues to the original NES Castlevania. You had to buy engagement rings for your jump arcs, sometimes enemies that didn't hit you registered a hit, sometimes you would literally see your weapon intersect into the enemy sprite and it still didn't register. You couldn't travel between areas via portal or whatever, so going anywhere was a trek.
Those problems aside, it was a great game. Stage design was great, the palette broad enough (but could have used more color diversity), the story was "meh", and the music was... Well, it was memorable in the same way Torgo's is in the movie Manos: The Hands of Fate. I'm having trouble accurately describing the game at the moment, and I might come back to it later so I can be more descriptive. I really suggest you give it a go. HOWEVER you need to be able to set your expectations back about 25 years in terms of what you're used to. While it's a great game, it'll always pale in comparison to SOTN or POR. But for an NES game? Not bad.
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Post by Wilhelm on Sept 29, 2015 4:10:32 GMT -6
Generally in Iga's games, there is a second castle with a different set of rules (ie SOTN upside down) located beyond the veil in the void, or rather within chaos. I haven't had the opportunity to watch all the Twitch broadcasts, but if Bloodstained will be following a similar formula I've an idea for it.
Imagine the entire map being redesigned using a stained glass theme for both walls and floor, alomst a mosiac of their original appearance. Reflections visible on the screen, light of the moon shining through portions of the glass. Where windows once were, tattered paintings and tapestries take their place. But, in the void, rightside-up just doesn't seem right, does it? But neither does upside-down. So each segment of map is tilted and contorted at a different angle - some almost rightside-up, some almost upside-down, some at varying diagonal degrees or even just on their side. On the map screen, everything displays as normal, only furthering the disorientation. Everything seems familiar, yet 'not'.
Anyway, I think it'd be neat.
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Post by Wilhelm on Sept 29, 2015 3:33:40 GMT -6
Igarashi-sama, first I would like to thank you for your years of work on the original Castlevania franchise. Your work influenced my tastes greatly as a teenager, made me realize how the real world has a diverse and unique mythology in itself - giving me an appreciation for that borderline between perception and reality and that precious balance that has to be present for the world to not lose it's wonder. Even my current indulgences of stained glass, myth, candle light, victorian-era architecture and style all stem from almost twenty years ago. I only regret that I likely won't ever meet you, someone who influenced me so greatly, for real conversation on these matters because of my physical disability.
I think my next question may be as of yet preemptive, however I'm curious; Do you see yourself working on more titles like Bloodstained in the future? Can we expect more Igavania-style games after this one?
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Post by Wilhelm on Sept 28, 2015 15:53:03 GMT -6
I've never really heard of someone refer to themselves as a game 'designer' when they do the coding among other things. Well, to be fair I said I was getting into game design. That's a bit different. I have very little idea of what I'm getting into. My skills are more based in writing, artwork, spriting (Remember the "SpritesInc" website back in the day? I used to do work on there for the Megaman and Castlevania games), and music composition. When it comes to the game design itself, I see this specific game's process as more of a culmination, a tribute, of everything we've seen in past games that worked, then adding my ideas or contributed ones, just things I like or that sweeten the deal and polish it. But afterward you can call me whatever you want - game designer, director, village idiot - it's the finished product that matters. ANYWAY, the idea was to use GameMaker Studio Pro. I already have it, and I'm currently toying with it and learning the mechanics. Coming from a guy who taught himself CAD when he was 13, then CubaseScore and Cakewalk, then Photoshop and so on. I don't think it will be very difficult - but I do expect it to be time consuming. Intensely so. Also - proof of concept. That's something I intend to throw out here soon (or "as soon as I can, given this isn't my full time job"). BUT in the meantime, I do totally appreciate any input the community might have. Like "Hey, that one level in MegaMan X, when... That's cool, I liked it." Or just some off-hand suggestion. I'll take that and see what I can do, and it might even change the entire aesthetic of the gameplay. Who knows? If anyone wants to help me make this a 'thing' by actively helping? ohdeargodineedit... One guy whipping all this up -is- going to be difficult. Keep in mind the Bloodstained crew and Iga have a full staff. I'd be satisfied with a sprite artist, another GameMaker Studio Pro user, and maybe a composer.
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Post by Wilhelm on Sept 25, 2015 16:00:13 GMT -6
It's random, but I myself am getting into game design. I've been thinking of making a very Iga-centric side-scroller, but I'm not sure my artwork will ever be as beautiful as Ayami Kojima's. It's a one-man show at the moment, meaning I have to compose music, write, program, do art and edit the art digitally, etc. Watching the process, or rather hearing the team tell us stories on Twitch really helps. I'm excited for Bloodstained and to be fair - it'll be released way before my own game, if I even finish. I wanted the game to have a dark steampunk gears and stained glass theme, but steal a bit of MegaMan and make a map select screen. Three main characters that are selectable at the beginning of each stage, but with an AI taking the others through so you have to try to keep them alive as well. Their weapons being pistols, swords, and whips respectively. Castlevania, MegaMan, and Metroid had a huge impact on my gameplay tastes. Being 33, I was there for all of it and played almost every game on the more retro consoles. At one point, the only game I had for my PSX was SOTN. I played it constantly for two years trying to find glitches, all the secrets, and everything. For my idea, I suppose I could have chosen to go with a more futuristic theme, but creatures of the night, monsters, mythology, history - those are my things. While I'm studying law right now, I've also studied or have experience in anthropology, architecture, art, and of course IT stuff. I also used to do tabletop RPGs. So this sort of thing isn't completely unfamiliar, but making a game? New territory. Anyway, here are some sketches I did a while ago of the characters. What do you think of the ideas? Character design? Sketches themselves? Think a game like this would appeal?
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